A mum has divided opinions after charging children £16 to attend her seven-year-olds' birthday party. She explained how she has twins - one boy and one girl - and wanted to throw them a birthday party to remember at an interactive child's museum.
It's at the "top of her budget" costing $400 (£335) for 10 children including her twins - but according to their school policy, she must invite all the pupils in her children's class. She said: "For their birthday, I found a party package at what is basically an interactive children's museum that they love. It's an amazing package, and an activity that they both love and are excited about. At $400, it's at the top of my budget, but it's all inclusive.
"The issue is that there can only be 10 kids, including them. Between stepsiblings and cousins that need to be invited, there are only four open spots for friends.
"School policy states that either all of the kids in a class must be invited, or all the kids of one gender. There are 20 kids in their class."
To help ease the strain on her bank account, she invited four children from the class free of charge - and asked all the others to pay their own $20 (£16) admission.
"It costs $20 a head for each additional kid, and there's a 20 kid maximum. There's no way to follow this rule that we could afford, and not everyone could attend if everyone said yes. $400 is the absolute most we can spend on a party," she added on Reddit.
"We had to follow the rules, so I decided to pass out invites to all as required, but require a $20 entry fee on the invites for the families aside from the 'chosen four'."
While most users agreed the school's rule is "stupid", others argued she should have planned a "cheaper" party knowing this would be an issue.
One user said: "She's wrong to get guests to pay for her child’s party. I mean, she expects them to pay and get a birthday present?
"The fact is that it's the school's policy. Yes, it sucks but if she knew about the policy and the guest list, it means that the party is out of her budget.
"She can choose to have the party only for relatives and have a separate party for her children's friends."
Another user added: "If she could not afford the more expensive spot and wanted to invite the class, then choose another option.
"You just don't invite someone to your private party and expect them to pay.
"If they were getting something extra then yes, they should pay for that something extra. But invites to a private birthday party should not be commercial."
A third user said: "While I don’t 100 per cent agree with the school’s policy, I can definitely see their reasoning for it.
"If kids were allowed to hand out invitations to just their friends while at school that could potentially lead to a lot of whining, and be a form of bullying like 'Everyone is invited to my party except that loser Timmy!'
"But in this day and age, the mum should be able to reach out to the kids/parents through social media and invite them that way. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for her to ask for donations to put towards the total cost."
One more user added: "I think the other parents in her class know what the deal is too.
"Their kids just being invited because they have to be and if they are reasonable people they will understand.
"It's a stupid school rule but a rule none the less. No one said they have to go."
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